


a love i held tightly (like a flame burning brightly)

by renehasalotoffeelings



Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bi Margo Hanson, Cute gays, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Lorians, Swordfights, alice getting shit done in the palace, dont hurt me for tagging the books ok i tok a lot of insp/canon fromthere, fillory just be like that, i only changed a couple things + added stuff from the books, its mostly cute, knight fen, like only slightly tho tbh, margo blushing, side queliot but like so minimal im sorry, so ive tagged that, this might be a little gen too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22569289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renehasalotoffeelings/pseuds/renehasalotoffeelings
Summary: High Queen Margo of Fillory was about to embark on a Quest— capital Q because it was of the highest importance, and also because High King Eliot was being pretentious about it. Eliot had insisted that Margo take a bodyguard because, "Bambi, you never know what might be out there waiting for their chance to jump the High Queen of Fillory."In which Margo goes on a Quest, Fen is her Knight, and there's a lot of Fillory fuckery.
Relationships: Fen/Margo Hanson, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	a love i held tightly (like a flame burning brightly)

**Author's Note:**

> hi i randomly wanted to write an epic 10k fargo love story and it might have gotten a little out of hand  
> beta'd by cumkills on tumblr

It had started like this:  
High Queen Margo of Fillory was about to embark on a Quest— capital Q because it was of the highest importance, and also because High King Eliot was being pretentious about it. Eliot had insisted that Margo take a bodyguard because, "Bambi, you never know what might be out there waiting for their chance to jump the High Queen of Fillory." It didn’t help that she was going to be crossing through Lorian waters, with whom Fillory had a complicated history.  
So now here they were. King Quentin had madly cleared out the Banquet Hall to hold tryouts (Margo complained that that name sounded so high school sports team, but Quentin already had banners made) for the honour of escorting High Queen Margo on her Quest through Fillory and Loria. Quentin had cleared out the Banquet Hall because he worried it might rain, but a few days later they realised they had so many entries they would need to set up rings in the court outside as well to get through them all. 

High King Eliot, High Queen Margo and King Quentin addressed the Fillorians who had entered on the first day of 'tryouts'. Most of the hopefuls were human, but some of them were talking animals and trees. Queen Alice was not present, as she was busy with her own duties.  
"Hello to all who have gathered here today," Eliot began, "to fight for the honour of being bodyguard to the High Queen Margo. We will be drawing names out of hats, so please ensure you have all had your names taken down by our referees."  
“If you win your fight,” King Quentin piped in, “you will be staying for the second rounds tomorrow. We don't have the space for all the fights to take place at once, nor do we have enough referees, so, uh, feel free to spectate when you yourself are not fighting."  
High Queen Margo simply smiled and looked pretty. Why not let the boys take care of something for once. 

♡

The tryouts were already underway by noon, and things were looking promising. The first set’s victors were mostly big and burly men, but somehow a beech tree named Farvel managed to defeat their opponent. It was as the second set was just getting underway that the Fillorian commoners cheering on the fighters fell suddenly to a hush.  
From their thrones seated high above the court, High King Eliot and High Queen Margo looked at each other quizzically, then down at the gates that had just swung open. Margo gasped.  
The person who had just walked through the gates was a beautiful young woman fully kitted out in battle armour, most of which had knives tucked into odd places. She wore the most gorgeous boots, which Margo whispered to Eliot, but all he said was "But look how complex those laces are. Must be a trip to get on or off."  
The woman unsheathed a sword from somewhere or other. Margo was too busy ogling her muscular arms to notice where the sword came from. She raised it high into the air and Gods Margo loved women who didn't shave. But then again this was Fillory, so it was less of an anti-patriarchal statement and more of a common occurrence.  
"I am Fen of Fillory,” the woman shouted, “daughter to sword-smith Dint the Second, and I wish to enter this… tryout." The last word was said confusedly, because like every other Fillorian, she had never heard of the word. Damn Quentin for using it on all the slogans.  
Eliot stood. "Fen? You're late."  
She only scowled at him, even though it was clear he was High King. Margo sent Tick down to get her full name on the list, and maybe find her an opponent.  
Tick managed to find her one after much trouble. It was Penny. Margo hoped to high hell that Fen won, but she didn't even know if Penny was good at sword fighting or not. 

♞ 

It turned out that Penny was shit at sword fighting. And since he had no ability to use magic, Fen was the clear winner. Her swordsmanship was impeccable.  
In the evening the victors of the day were served a feast in the Banquet Hall, once it had been put back together. The High King and Queen declined to attend, as they were setting out to check Rafe's progress on finding them a boat. King Quentin, however, persuaded Queen Alice to join him at the feast. Margo asked him to keep an eye on Fen. 

Rafe waited for Eliot and Margo on the docks, looking pleased with himself. Margo swore she heard the Kill Bill sirens in the distance.  
"This had better be good," Margo said.  
Rafe gestured to a magnificent boat behind him. "May I present to you, the Swift."  
Margo's jaw dropped. Eliot wordlessly swept off to bring Quentin down. The ship that had been acquired for them was none other than the legendary boat that the Chatwins had stowed away on in The Secret Sea.  
Quentin arrived with Alice and Eliot trailing considerably far behind just as Margo was stepping on board. He was out of breath and red in the face. Obviously he had run quite fast to get there. Breathlessly, he said "Oh, my god" and then he had to sort of collapse on the pier so he could catch his breath.  
Alice and Eliot caught up to him and all but dragged him along with them to the boat. Margo could see on his face that he desperately wished he had taken it upon himself to go on the Quest, but it was already too late. This was her time to shine.  
As Quentin fawned over the boat ("This is where Jane and Rupert slept!" He said as he entered the quarters below the deck. "This is where they stood!"), Margo covered logistics with Rafe. He recommended they take Abigail, as sloths generally had a good rapport with sentient boats. But that would mean he would have to come along. Of Course. Which meant another two mouths to feed on a journey that could take however damn long.  
Margo reluctantly agreed. If things came to it, they could always sacrifice Abigail for food. 

♡

As Margo entered the Banquet Hall the next morning, hastily fitted out with tables to seat the remaining competitors, Quentin came back in through the front door. His hair was messy and he had bedsheet lines pressed into his face. He’d obviously spent the night aboard The Swift, dreaming of his lost Quest.  
The victors were being treated to another free meal, however this was the last one. The tryouts would be completed today and the Victor, capital V, would be determined. 

By afternoon, the last sets of the day were about to start. The daily Fillorian eclipse had just passed, and the two moons hung heavily in the sky. Fen had made it this far and was about to fight her last competitor before the Final Battle. Her opponent was a melancholy looking man called Bingle.  
Margo found herself highly invested in the battle. Fen was quick and skilled, where Bingle mainly dodged aims. He seemed to plan to outlast her. Margo supposed that was how he had made it this far. He mirrored Fen's movements, but he didn't have any knives or swords on his person. He seemed to be more of a martial artist. But what good would that do Margo?  
In the end, Fen won. She was in the last round, which ended up occurring just as the sun started to set— her new opponent had also played the long game in his previous round. He was a big bear of a man, and he had a big sword. Margo didn't quite catch his name. Something like Humbledrum? Fillorian names were so fucking weird sometimes.  
The evening chill set in as the two began their fight. High King Eliot retired to his quarters even though he had promised to stay by Margo’s side all day. King Quentin and Queen Alice had also been with them, but they had made no such promise and left as soon as the mosquitoes started to bite. Fillorian mosquitoes were nasty things, bigger than any on Earth. The light dwindled as Fen pinned down her opponent, holding a knife to his neck. The leftover audience of the other failed contenders applauded; Margo had found her bodyguard. 

♞ 

Fen attended dinner with the royals. Although she looked tough in the field, she was mostly eager to please and willing to do whatever she must to win approval. She was also quite talkative. Oddly, King Quentin took to her immediately. They discussed a lot of Fillorian politics. Who knew.  
High Queen Margo decided halfway through one of Quentin's long-winded comparisons between Earth politics and Fillorian politics, which Fen listened to eagerly, to make a toast.  
She clinked her nails against her wine glass. Quentin stopped talking abruptly.  
"Sir Fen," she began, mentally reminding herself that they had to knight her tomorrow, "I raise my glass to make a toast to the finest fighter in Fillory."  
She raised her half-empty glass of wine and stood. High King Eliot, who was sitting next to her, hurriedly mirrored her actions, as did Queen Alice And King Quentin across from them. Fen sat between them, looking kind of small. And awkward.  
"May our travels be successful and safe. To Fen." Margo said, and her fellow royals toasted their guest, bodyguard to the High Queen of Fillory. Fen blushed and was considerably more quiet for the rest of the night. 

♡

The next morning, Margo rose early. She roused the staff and had the court cleared of all the fighting equipment and marquees and spectator stands. It was a fine day, and she planned to knight Fen outside. She had sent up knight armour to Fen's room, but likely it would need to be adjusted; while she was muscular, she was still small. She had also sent her breakfast. When Eliot learned of this, he accused her of cheating on him.  
Margo would leave for her Quest tomorrow, but she had yet to fill in Fen on the details. She supposed she ought to soon, since what is the fun of coming along on a royal Quest without a clue of what’s going on!  
A message was sent out to the Fillorians to remind them that a victor had been found and the High King and Queen requested their attendance for the soon to be Sir Fen’s knighting (in Fillory, they had no concept of 'Sir' being gendered). 

As it turned out, Fen found Margo mid-morning, interrupting her solitary drinking session in the throne room. Instead of drinking alcohol, she was drinking cup after cup of coffee, or whatever the Fillorian equivalent was. Either way, it helped her prepare for big events. Like her first knighting.  
Fen had sought out Margo to ask about the Quest. The objective of it. Where they were going.  
"We're going to the Salty Sea. To rescue the Knight." Margo explained, taking a long sip of her coffee. Fen's face lit up.  
"I have heard of such a Knight! She went missing on a regular tax collecting voyage many years ago. One would assume she’d died by now, or at least been taken captive?"  
This was true. The Salty Sea lay just between the border of Fillory and Loria. It was quite possible she had been taken captive. Or starved to death. Supposedly it had been about 50 years. Details were quite murky though.  
Margo was mostly taking on this Quest because she was bored of sitting around Castle Whitespire all day. But she had been hearing things whispered around Fillory for the past few months; rumors that indicated she may still be there.  
"I've heard word that she may be alive on the island,” was all Margo said.  
Fen looked at her strangely. It wasn't confusion. She accepted what Margo had said. Margo couldn't place her expression— was it contempt? Awe? Admiration? Pure hatred? Her eyebrows were furrowed, but her eyes looked innocently at the High Queen.  
"Your Highness…." Fen started, but she didn't say any more.  
Margo prompted her with a slight head tilt. Fen sighed.  
"Your Highness, I must confess something to you. I was raised for this. My childhood, apart from attending the School of Trees, was focused on becoming a trained bodyguard." She paused. "A trained bodyguard to the High Queen of Fillory. I was promised for this role a long time ago, by my grandfather. Dint Wick."  
The man who had given them the sword to slay the Beast. How Margo had not picked up on that when Fen introduced herself was beyond her. Margo let out a huff.  
"Fen, we cannot go this whole journey with you calling me 'Your Highness’. It's impractical. You must call me Margo."  
Fen's face contorted into an even stranger expression than earlier. But at least Margo could read it. She was conflicted. She wanted to please/impress her High Queen, but usually that involved calling her 'Your Highness’. But now she was being asked not to… Abiding by that would surely please her High Queen, but it went against the Rules.  
"And also, great plot twist. I can't believe Dint Wick the First made good on that little promise. I'd nearly forgotten about it." Margo added on, changing the subject so Fen could chill out a little. It worked. Fen smiled and bid Margo adieu, leaving her to go get fitted for her knight armour. 

The knighting was to be held at at noon.  
Margo kind of hoped that the daily eclipse would start just as she knighted Fen, but she realised there really wasn't much preamble to fill in the time between twelve and mid-afternoon. She had supposed there would be other rituals to undertake, and speeches and blessings and possibly offerings to Ember and Umber. You know, normal Fillory stuff. But Quentin informed her that in Fillory, it was really just as simple as Fen kneeling before Margo, and Margo saying the usual "Arise" crap with the sword touching both her shoulders, and then that was really it. It was too late to change the time of the knighting, too, so Margo had to forgo her dramatics.  
There was always next time, Eliot had said.  
But deep down, Margo kind of wanted to impress Fen with her showmanship. They'd had limited interactions, but Margo low-key found her hot, and also quite a nice person to be around.  
She ended up over compensating for the whole eclipse-fail with an extravagant dress, not her usual garb but something to impress the Fillorian public as well as Fen. It was in the style of one of those renaissance dresses, which meant at least she could still show off her boobs. 

♞ 

"Arise, Sir Fen Wick of Fillory." High Queen Margo said, lifting the quite frankly heavy sword off of Fen's right shoulder.  
Sir Fen stood from her kneeling position in front of Margo and bowed her head. Margo took her hand and turned her around to face the crowd as they applauded. She didn't really know what she was meant to be doing, but this certainly wasn't it if the side-eyes Quentin and Alice were giving her were anything to go by. To be fair, it did kind of look like they'd just been married.  
High King Eliot joined them and took Fen's other hand, then swiftly whisked them away and inside. The ceremony was over and Quentin and Alice followed them in, doors shutting behind them.  
Margo and Eliot both dropped Fen's hands at the same time— synchronicity was one of the best features of their best-friendship. Fen looked at Margo with her beautiful eyes, awaiting some sort of instruction. It wasn't really clear to any of them what they were supposed to do now.  
"Drinks?" Eliot suggested. "I've been working on the Fillorian champagne. It's nearly ready to be released to the masses."  
Quentin was the first to agree, strangely. Or not strangely. Who knew these days. They headed up to the throne room, since where else would they drink? The Banquet Hall somehow seemed too formal. They sat on the steps in front of their thrones and waited while Eliot retrieved his Fillorian champagne. Fen looked nervous. Margo couldn't tell if it was the champagne or something else.  
"I'm not sure what this 'champagne' is." She confessed when Eliot returned. He handed her an empty glass from a platter he had them all crammed onto. Then he sat the platter on the steps and poured the champagne into her glass. She jumped back as the bubbles hit her skin.  
"It's like, bubbly wine." Eliot said as he picked up a glass for himself.  
Fen sniffed it as Eliot poured his own, and then he clinked her glass with his and took a sip. Fen nervously did the same. Her face lit up.  
Margo, not one to be left out on the fun, snatched up a glass and filled it, taking a big sip. "Yummy, right?" She said to Fen, who nodded and took another sip.  
"Right, well, when are you leaving Bambi? Tomorrow?" Eliot interjected. Quentin quietly poured champagne for himself and Alice.  
"Tomorrow we set sail. Fen, I'm gonna need you up and at 'em pretty early so we can get it all sorted to leave at 10." Margo explained.  
She was quite excited. This was her first official quest as High Queen of Fillory. She was going to save a Knight! Hopefully.  
"Margo, do you know when you'll be back? We've got Royal things coming up soon." Alice was the one who was on top of all their appointments and requirements. She was the one who had her shit together, unlike the rest of them.  
Quentin was too busy being in wonderment over Fillory and Eliot was too busy inventing champagne. And Margo was too busy trying to get other things done around the castle, not that anyone listened to her half the damn time.  
"God, I don't know. It's like a week's sail from here, and then there's the whole rescuing bit, which includes the finding bit, and then we'll come back." Alice looked slightly worried. "Look, I'll send you a rabbit once we get there. Let you know what the situation's like."  
"Thanks" was all Alice said. She sipped her champagne. Margo knew Alice was kind of annoyed with her; she'd organised this whole quest thing over a matter of days without consulting her once. But whatever. She'd get over it.  
Eliot stood. He raised his glass." To Fen? To Margo? To the Quest." 

♡

Margo stood on the front of the ship. She wasn't sure that it was called, even though she knew all the parts had names. They'd just set off, and the departure party of Fillorians waved and cried and cheered as they began to sail off into the distance.  
Eliot had left her with his usual kiss on the forehead, whispering, "Stay safe, Bambi."  
Quentin and Alice gave her a hug each. If Alice was still annoyed it didn't show. They both wished her well. Quentin told her not to return if she failed, but he was just being melodramatic, acting out some Fillorian Quest Fantasy.  
Now it was just her, Fen, Abigail and Rafe, sailing the high seas. And of course the light army, and the crew who knew how to sail, which was vital for getting them anywhere. Margo supposed one of them might know what the front of the ship was called.  
"Hey, you! Mr Arms over there!" She called to one of the crew who didn't look too busy. He had really muscular arms.  
"Yes, Your Highness?" He said, approaching her.  
"The front of the boat. What is it called?" She asked.  
"It is called the Bow, Your Highness."  
"Right." She dismissed him, and he bowed and returned to his post. Fuck. She totally knew that already. It was embarrassing that she had forgotten.  
"Margo?" A sweet voice called her.  
"Yes, Fen?" Margo clambered down from the bow of the ship. Fen was holding a knife. "Jesus."  
"I'm sharpening my tools. What do you suppose I will need?" The knife made more sense now. It was just that she had been holding it horizontally, pointed mostly at Margo. Fen lowered it, sensing the mistake. "Sorry."  
"You probably can’t go wrong with a sword. And if you're the kind of girl I think you are, you will have plenty of places to hide knives, yes?" Fen nodded. "That'll do then."  
Margo kind of loved the fact that Fen always had a knife on her person at all times. It made her all the more attractive. 

Later on, as the sun was starting to set, Fen found Margo again. Somehow they had not run into each other since earlier. Probably because Fen was busy sharpening her knives.  
"Margo. This is for you." She said, and held out a knife. It was gorgeous. "It was my mother's."  
Jesus. This was almost like a proposal.  
"Fen, I can't take this." Fen furrowed her brow. "If it was your mother's…."  
"No, you need to be able to protect yourself. Just in case something horrible happens."  
As if I would let anything horrible happen to you, Margo immediately thought. But that kind of defeated the purpose of Fen being her bodyguard. She reluctantly took the knife. Fen also handed her a strap to hold it in on her thigh. Margo could have screamed. Everything about this was exactly her aesthetic. Fen wordlessly took her leave. Margo didn't see her for the rest of the night. 

♞ 

Margo woke up abruptly from a dream, early in the morning. It was still dark outside. The dream was already slipping away from her, but she remembered the general vibe: dark, creepy, foreboding. An image of Fen, looking terrified, or surprised, or angry, stuck in Margo’s mind.  
What the fuck? Margo lay in her bed, now wide awake, trying to decipher what the fuck just happened.  
Prophetic dreams were certainly not her Discipline, but the emotions she was feeling now, still reeling from whatever that dream was, left her feeling like maybe it was. Eventually, the sound of the waves on the side of the boat lulled Margo back into a restless sleep. 

♡

The first full day of the Quest was less weird than Margo had anticipated it to be, considering what a strange dream she'd had last night. Fen seemed much more well rested than Margo was. She happily split the first day's breakfast rations between their party of four, and their limited swordsmen (the crew had their own thing sorted out), which included Abigail because Her Slowness was quite keen on boiled eggs.  
Margo was less happy to witness the way Abigail shoved the whole eggs into her mouth, slowly chewing each one, shell and all, for twelve or so minutes. But of course, Fen found it fascinating in her own way. And Rafe adored Abigail so he didn't mind.  
Margo wished they'd brought alcohol.  
Fen found her after breakfast. “High Qu- I mean, Margo. Can we talk?” She said, in her soft voice.  
“Of course.” Margo replied, and sat down at the breakfast table with her. “What did you want to talk about?”  
Fen sat across from her, “Oh, I just wanted to, you know, chat. You know. What’s Earth like?”  
They ended up talking the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon away, swapping stories with Fen about their lives and their lands. While Margo had always known her life was mostly breezy, listening to Fen talk humbled her even more, and she felt great luck that it was her who ended up as her knight.  
She radiated light despite her life. In the middle of the afternoon, Rafe interrupted, needing to talk to Margo about things somehow more important than Fen’s anecdotes about the strangeness of Fillory. Sadly, she took her leave.

Sailing all day turned out to actually be quite boring. Margo couldn't believe they had just less than a week more of this to look forward to. By the evening she was casting party trick spells off the edge of the boat; light trails from her fingertips and such. She was that bored.  
Fen came and sat next to her.  
"That's quite beautiful." Margo had made a dancing rabbit in the air from the dwindling sunlight. First Year stuff. Still, Fen was impressed.  
"I'm so bored I could cry, Fen." She said. In a way she hoped Fen could entertain her. But sparring for hours on end really wasn't Margo's style. After talking with Fen earlier in the day, she really felt the difference in their upbringings; Margo's L.A. glory days were in such stark contrast to Fen's warrior upbringing. Margo admired Fen so much.  
Fen put her head on Margo's shoulder. "You can help me sharpen knives."  
"Jesus. How many did you bring?"  
"Enough to get me by." Margo couldn't argue with that.  
"Thanks again for the knife. It must've meant a lot to you?" From talking today, Margo had learned Fen's mother died while she was still very young.  
"I don't really remember her." Fen replied, quietly. The horizon was just finishing swallowing up the sun. "Just, you know, good little memories."  
Margo didn't know what to say. So she rested her head on top of Fen's. They watched the last rays of sunlight disappear like that. 

♞ 

It was just over half a week since they'd set off. Margo was really getting restless. Along with the utter boredom, she'd dreamt about Fen every night. Now any time she saw Fen, she couldn't help but think of the expression on her face in those dreams. She'd realised, now, that it was anguish etched on her features.  
She could also barely deal with seeing her in general. Fen was so beautiful, and whenever she smiled at Margo, she swore her heart skipped a beat or two. It was only a matter of time before Margo became a blushing fool just from being in her presence. She was really beginning to feel like, although Fen was there to protect her, she would do anything to keep her safe.  
A brush of the hand had Margo stuttering when they both reached for the butter on the fourth morning of the trip. Fen’s apologetic smile brought butterflies to Margo’s stomach. Maybe sailing for a week wasn’t so bad.  
However, Abigail's affinity for eggs at breakfast was really starting to annoy Margo. The slow crunch as she ate was going to drive her insane. The worst part was that Fen still found it interesting, which meant Margo had to keep a pleasant face on, trying not to be the bitch who complained about the loud (and sloooow) chewer. Not that had ever really been a problem. But in the midst of her feelings, she didn't want Fen to dislike her.  
The crew decided they were another couple days off from reaching the Island where the Knight supposedly was. But the next part of their trip took them right through Lorian waters. Which was probably the dangerous part.  
Margo had prepared some battle magic, a la Kady, just in case it was needed. And she had her knife strapped around her thigh if that failed her. But of course she had Fen before any of that was necessary. Fen was there to protect her.  
As the sun reached the middle of the sky, they passed peacefully into Loria. 

However, the peace didn't last long. A Lorian battle ship was approaching across the horizon. They didn't have a cannon but they had armed men and women ready to fight. Jesus.  
Fen, who had been standing on the bow of the ship, hurriedly ran down below deck to get all of her weapons ready. She came back with an arm full of swords.  
"Rafe, can you fight?" Rafe's face fell but he didn't reply, so she shoved a sword at him. She gave one to each of the crew. Margo had her dagger but still Fen gave her a sword.  
Margo asked the crew if there was any way to divert their course, but the waters around the channel were too shallow to do anything. They would be pretty much sailing right by the side of the Lorian ship. Margo wondered how they'd instantly known that someone was in their waters; the islands around them were barren, with no civilisation at all.  
Soon enough, the Lorian ship was flush with theirs. As soon as the bows reached each other, the Lorian warriors were jumping onto their deck, and the fighting was immediate. Fen had ordered Margo to take cover under the deck as soon as they were getting close, so she sat on her bed feeling more seasick than ever as the fighting shook the ship. She supposed she was also a bit worried too.  
She had her sword and dagger with her in case anything went wrong, but that wasn't an issue. If she wasn't High Queen, she would be one hundred percent up on the deck in the thick of the fighting. But even if she weren't, she wouldn't want to have to fight now. If she had to fight, all the way down here below deck, that would mean that Fen had been hurt.  
And that was something that Margo really didn't want.  
High Queen Margo sat on her bed in the rocking ship for what felt like hours on end, listlessly staring at the wall, waiting for the fighting to stop. Suddenly, a strange fairy-like creature appeared. Margo leapt to her feet, ready to fight, but he simply held up a hand.  
"I am a messenger for the faeries. We have come to offer you guaranteed safe passage, for your quest benefits our interests." He spoke in a calm, low voice. Margo wasn't sure if she was hallucinating. The sounds of the battle above deck seemed to be getting ever louder.  
"No offense, but why?" Margo's voice was shaky, and her throat hurt because she hadn't talked aloud for a while.  
"We cannot tell you why. But you must make your decision promptly."  
"What will it cost?"  
"Something important. But nothing as important as the nature of your quest. It will only be a small sacrifice."  
Margo wasn't sure if this was the wisest call. Things didn't seem to be too dire up there. Although it had been a while. "High Queen Margo, I must tell you; the leader of your army, Bingle, has been stabbed and killed. The Lorians are ruthless. Before long, everyone aboard this boat shall perish. You must decide."  
Trust the person (or faerie) making a deal with you to tell you the worst possible news. But whether it was true or not, Margo couldn't risk it. "Okay, you have a deal."  
The faerie man smiled and vanished.  
Margo heard a hoarse cry come from above. She knew instantly it was Fen, and her heart dropped. 

♡

The Lorians had rushed off the deck of the Swift as soon as the sword had been thrust into Fen. Now she lay on the wood, bleeding out as Rafe attempted to bandage her up. Margo was holding her hand.  
The faeries had taken Fen's life for safe passage, Margo knew this in her heart. It wasn't fair. She was crying, and her salty tears fell into Fen's hair. Fen's face was pale, and she was barely conscious. She lifted up a hand to wipe away Margo's tears.  
"Do not worry," she whispered. "It was bound to happen anyway."  
And then a faerie appeared. There was no other way to say it; there was quiet and sadness and then, interrupting, there was a faerie.  
Both Margo and Fen startled. The faerie was a completely white being, dressed in the tone from head to toe, and their eyes contained deep black irises that swam. Faeries were pretty scary up close. The faerie was all up in their space, intruding on what Margo had thought was a private moment (aside of course from the medic who was treating the wound).  
"We offer a deal." They said simply. Their voice was raspy and their breath was cool.  
"Look where our last deal got us!" Margo exclaimed. How dare they return to offer a deal to rectify what they had made wrong! Their deals were just a domino effect. Fen held Margo's hand in her cold one.  
"They tried to take the sloth." Fen said the words with effort. "Whatever your previous deal was, what they were to gain was the sloth."  
"You can see them? Why? And why would they take Abigail? No offense, but what good is a sloth to faeries?"  
"A faerie deal was made on my behalf a very long time ago. My being part of the deal, although unwillingly, means I can see them."  
The faerie tutted impatiently.  
"Alright motherfucker. Name your price and I'll think it over." Margo was beyond irritated by now.  
The faeries were so vague. But if they wanted something so bad, then she was willing to bargain.  
"We want what we came for the first time. We want the sloth. As well as interest." Margo looked over at Abigail. She usually hung on a branch, but now she was on the deck, sitting strangely. She nodded at Margo, slowly.  
"Fine. You can take her. If you heal Fen. And if we still get our promised safe passage." The faerie looked gravely at Margo. Then it disappeared. Then the sight was sucked from Margo's right eye. 

♞ 

The Island was still a day and a half away, and Margo was ready to lose her shit. She was wearing an eyepatch, since the place where her eye had once been was kind of barren. Although being a Pirate Queen was one of her childhood fantasies, it didn't make her feel too good.  
It was so Not The Point that she was badass. Because it meant she could only see from one fucking eye, and she had to wear an ugly itchy eyepatch for an unforeseeable amount of time. Or for the rest of time.  
Fen was well again at least. And now at breakfast, Margo didn't have to listen to Abigail chewing. But Rafe was depressed over it. He and Abigail were abnormally close, and he couldn't function without her. So he was basically useless.  
Margo sat at the base of the mast, toying with light spells in the midday sun. Fen was training with Rafe, who in the midst of his depression was not turning out to be a good partner to be doing this with.  
"Jesus, this is useless." Margo looked over as Fen snapped at Rafe and threw her sword down. It still highly amused Margo to hear Fillorians exclaim to Jesus or God, but not quite as much as when they unironically said shit like "Umber's Balls" whenever something went mildly wrong.  
Fen stalked over to Margo and sat down next to her. "Rafe is a terrible swordsman. Why is he even here?"  
Ever since the encounter with the faeries, Fen had also been highly moody. And clingy to Margo, which was both the best and worst thing.  
"I'm sorry, I just really want to make sure I'm ready for whatever we encounter." Fen said, and she looped her arm around Margo's and rested her head on her shoulder.  
"You'll be great, Fen. You're the finest swordswoman I've ever seen." Margo had to do a lot of internal fighting to make that sentence sound normal. She really was quite into Fen.  
"Thanks. I'm just a bit scared, really." Margo didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything, she just listened to the waves. "Do you want to know why I can see the faeries?"  
Margo nodded. "If you want to tell me."  
"A while ago, my father encountered some trouble, and times were dire. He asked me what I would do to help out, and I said I'd do anything. And then he promised away my firstborn child to the faeries in exchange for success in his business."  
Margo thought she could hear Fen crying into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Fen." The lack of informed consent Fen held in her life seemed worrying. Sure, Dint had really helped them out, but poor sweet Fen paid the price for it. Margo stroked Fen's hair as her tears fell onto her shoulder. 

Later that day, Margo found Fen while she was eating an impromptu afternoon tea with Rafe in an attempt to lift his spirits.  
"Fen, come with me. Let's fight." She was dressed in her best swashbuckling outfit, looking the part of a Pirate Queen completely. Why not embrace that childhood dream.  
Fen lit up. "I'll get my sword."  
They sparred up on the deck, and Fen seemed surprised that Margo was any good at it. But she still won every fight, as one would expect the champion of Fillory to do.  
They fought till they were worn out. Margo felt proud as Fen told her that she had improved greatly over the course of the afternoon. And she had also managed not to completely fall apart anytime Fen had to touch her to help with her stance or general technique. However she did blush quite a lot when Fen placed a hand on her waist to adjust her stance. 

After supper, Fen and Margo sat on the edge of the boat, as they had every night since the first. They’d shared many secrets and embarrassing stories as the light fled from the sky, and Margo always came with a new light trick to impress Fen with, using the dying light of the sun. As the night got on, Fen rested her shoulder once again on Margo’s shoulder, and she was worried she’d be able to-  
“I can feel your heartbeat from here,” Fen said, without moving her head away. “It’s pretty erratic. Are you getting nervous about the Quest?”  
Margo couldn’t speak. She tried a few words, spitting them out, but mostly they didn’t make sense. Her greatest strength had always been that she was a smooth talker - how had Fen stripped that away from her? Fen lifted her head and looked at Margo softly, curiously. Margo suddenly couldn’t meet her eye.  
“Oh,” was all Fen said. And then, gently, she lifted up her hand to hold Margo’s face, and looked her in the eye. All Margo could do was flutter her eyes shut as Fen leaned in to kiss her.  
“My Queen?” Rafe intterupted just as Fen’s lips were about to brush hers. “I apologise greatly, but you have received a rabbit from High King Eliot.”  
Of fucking course she had. Fen had already dropped her hand, and Rafe was making urgent facial expressions, indicating that Eliot had already sent several and they were piling up on the deck, and the moment was lost.  
She hurriedly got up, and went to see what Eliot’s fuss was about. By the time she’d dealt with all that, over various rabbits— Bambi, let us know when you’re getting back, Alice wants to know, Well you can tell Alice she just ruined a moment between me and Fen, Ooh, juicy, text me all the details (Eliot really was a dramatic gay)— Fen had already returned herself to her room.  
Margo knew she probably needed space after such an embarrassing ordeal, so she went to bed. She stared at the ceiling, dazed, and finally fell asleep after playing the moment over and over in her head, all the while blushing madly.

In the dead of the night, Margo was woken again from a dream, despite being exhausted from sparring. And from staying up half the night thinking about her and Fen’s near-kiss. She sighed, and then she realised she had been woken because there was a heavy knocking on her door.  
What the fuck.  
"What?!" She snapped, or tried to, except it came out a little more sleepy and whiny since she had just woken up. Rafe entered, his face grim.  
"Your Highness-" He cut himself off. Coughed, then started again. "Your Highness, Sir Fen has gone missing."  
Margo leapt out of her bed. She scrambled to find her eyepatch as Rafe stared at the unnervingly empty space where her right eye should have been.  
"Stop staring," she said as she pulled it on. "Get the crew up. How soon till we reach land?"  
"No land for miles. The next land we hit will be the Island."  
"Fuck." Margo said. Then, after a moment of deliberation, "Fuck."  
"My liege, here, this note was found on the deck." Rafe looked keen to leave the room, and she snatched the letter from his hand and mercifully dismissed him. Margo pulled on a robe over her nightdress and came up above deck to read the note. It turned out to be a page from a book about the legend of the Knight. Which was strange. Margo had figured this had occurred like fifty years before they'd all arrived, but the fact that there seemed to be a legend around it suggested otherwise. It made no sense.  
"Rafe." Margo managed to actually snap this time. "Get me a rabbit."

♡

Castle Whitespire woke early due to a very loud rabbit screaming at the top of its lungs. High King Eliot really didn't appreciate the interruption to his beauty sleep.  
King Quentin didn't mind, however, since it was a message for him, and it gave him a purpose for the day.  
"Quentin," it had barked from the base of their bed. "need info on the Knight."  
He'd gotten right out of bed despite the fact that sunlight was barely peeking through the curtains, and headed straight to the Whitespire library. Eliot decided to go back to sleep until the sun was halfway through the sky.  
Meanwhile, Quentin roused Tick and requested his help to find any books about the Knight in the library. "We're looking for anything that mentions a Knight that's gotten like, lost or left behind, or gone missing. Find all the lore books you can."  
Margo's follow up rabbits had explained that the page she had found was from a medieval style book, whatever Fillory's equivalent of that was, and had talked super vaguely about the quest in a spiritual sense. 

Around noon, Eliot and Alice joined him in his mini library quest. He was deep in a book about the various intricacies of Knighthood in Fillory. Strangely, knights often married into royalty after being wooed by one of their Kings or Queens.  
Eliot kissed the top of his head before dramatically flopping into the seat next to him. Alice, who had not been raised at the crack of dawn and was therefore not subject to the same irritability and dramatics, sat down gracefully across from him. She did have an excited glint in her eye, though.  
Quentin shut his book. "We're looking for pretty much any info we can get on the Knight that Margo is questing for, specifically. But we're mostly looking at all of the books on knights in here, just in case anything useful pops up."  
"Sir Fen went missing coincidentally on a Quest that involved rescuing a Knight. Seems ominous?" Eliot added.  
Alice was practically vibrating with excitement. "As you all know, I was a Niffin. I never really got to tell you what I did - now I won't give you all the details. I did some pretty terrible stuff. But Niffins aren't held by the constraints of time. I went all the way to the start of Fillory. Not to the end, though. I couldn't go forward." Quentin quirked an eyebrow. "I saw all kind of wonderful and terrible things. I saw the first sunset. I also saw the first murder. Anyway, way back before even the Chatwins, like two hundred more years at least, a noble of the court was kidnapped.  
"During a routine survey of the lands, the Queen's Knight was taken by the Lorians, put up in a tower until she was either found, or she starved to death. She ended up dying. I saw a few more rounds of this happen, and then I got bored and lived literally underground for years. And then I came back to earth.  
"Anyway, is that the sort of Quest Margo is on?"  
High King Eliot looked like murder. "Yes, it is exactly the kind of Quest Margo is on. Have you been living under a rock?"  
"Actually, I've been busy conferring with the people and making legislation to fix this broken country, but sure, I've been living under a rock."  
"Hey, guys, it's okay. Thanks, Alice, for the info. Can you get one of those rabbits for me?" Alice handed him a brown rabbit. "And could you look up books that might mention what you talked about?"  
Alice immediately jumped at the chance to leave Eliot's blast zone. She headed straight for the section on tragedies.  
"Hey, El, it's gonna be okay. Just don't take it out on Alice, she's been really busy with her own stuff." Quentin laid a hand on Eliot's shoulder and kissed his forehead. "It'll all be okay."

♞ 

Three hours ago, Margo had received a rabbit from Quentin that just said "You're on a two centuries old quest. More info to come."  
More info had not come.  
Presumably they were having trouble cracking the second part of the case RE: saving Fen.  
Margo was sick of waiting around. Not that she didn't trust her friends, she just really hated missing out on the action. There was about another day still until they reached the Island.  
Until then, there was really nothing to be done. Margo had already prepared as much as she could for fighting, and had prepared the few swordsmen they'd brought on board for the possible troubles they may face.  
A rabbit plonked onto the deck, just to the right of Margo.  
"Need to break curse," it barked. That was all. How cryptic Quentin could be. Another rabbit appeared, nearly hitting the other one.  
"Clarification: Need to break the Lorians' curse. Alice." While Margo was glad to know Alice had not only pulled herself out of whatever it was was doing to help her, she still had no idea what the fuck they meant.  
"They cursed the faerie’s island!" Another rabbit yelled from her left. "Love, Eliot."  
Margo smiled. At least she could still count on Eliot. She picked up the page and reread it. Now that she had the extra info, she was able to decode more of the oldspeak (Old Fillorian was even more ridiculous than Old English). Now, she realised, the Island was part of the faeries empire, or it had been until the Lorians stole it, cursed it and barred the faeries from coming within a few miles of it.  
The curse had also involved kidnapping Fillorian knights. On the other side, there was a picture of an anguished-looking Knight. Margo sighed.  
Rafe was sitting by the mast, looking more depressed and hopeless than before. This really was unworkable. Half the swordsmen they'd brought were injured, and Bingle was indeed dead. The morale of the remaining few was low. Even the ship's crew were bouncing about with less energy.  
The only upside would have been the three less mouths to feed, but any extra food was being rationed between the injured, to aid their healing. They’d only brought about 30 swordsmen anyway, so now Margo would be leading an army of 15 onto the Island to hopefully rescue Fen and break the Lorian’s curse.  
At least now Margo knew why the faeries had cut those deals with them; they wanted their land back. And while she wasn’t fond of the faeries, they had helped them out in the end, even if it hadn’t seemed like it at the time. But whatever. Margo’s main focus going into the next day was to save Fen at all costs. She studied the page again, but found no answer to aid her in breaking the curse and freeing Fen. She didn’t even know why Fen had been taken. Unless she was the very Knight they’d set out to rescue?  
“Hey, Rafe?” She called. He looked at her, with an expression on his face that gave her no hope at all. “Come here you sad sack. I have a question.”  
Rather forlornly, he made his way to her. “Yes, Your Highness?” He bowed.  
These days, Margo hated it when he did that, so she hit his head with the page before shoving it under his nose.  
“Theories on how to save Fen?” She asked. “I’m thinking she’s coincidentally the Knight we have to save.”  
“Well, Your Highness, Fillorian curses are often tricky like this. Perhaps every so often the curse needs to be fed, as such, or needs a sacrifice.”  
“So if we don’t save Fen she’ll die?? And the curse will just come around again at some point??” Margo was beyond frustrated. This stupid Quest. This stupid curse. She wished she could go back in time and ignore Tic when he brought up the missing Knight, like she did most times he talked to her. But the image of being a hot, swashbuckling pirate wouldn’t leave her mind until she agreed to embark on the quest. Fuck.  
“That seems to be the case.” Rafe agreed. “May I take my leave now?”  
Margo glared at him. “No. I get you’re wallowing in self-pity, but so am I. Keep me company.”  
Rafe reluctantly sat next to Margo. She ended up explaining magic theory to him, partly because he’d asked, but mostly to keep her mind off certain circumstances that couldn’t be changed. Such as being stuck in the middle of the fucking ocean while someone who had become a great deal important to Margo was stuck in captivity by a Lorian curse.  
The theory lessons tided them over to sundown, but that night Margo quietly cried herself to sleep. She wasn’t proud of it or anything, but their situation was becoming increasingly stressful and she low-key high-key missed Fen. Talking to Rafe was fucking boring, but Fen was amazing and beautiful and interesting and Margo missed her. Margo felt so helpless and sad that she just cried and cried until she fell into a sleep deeper than she’d ever slept before.

♡

The next morning, Margo woke feeling more ready for anything than she ever had. It wasn’t something she would ever admit out loud, but taking Quentin’s advice and having a good cry once in a while was really reinvigorating. She’d dreamt of nothing, but now that it was the day they were projected to land, she felt so much more confident.  
Around mid-morning, land had been sighted, and by mid-afternoon, they had nearly reached the shore. Margo had been rallying the troops for the whole day. The previous day they’d trained, but she didn’t want them to exert themselves too much before the day that lay ahead, so she mostly gave them a very firm pep talk and told them to stretch so that no further injuries would be sustained. Also so that Margo could sit back and admire the muscly men in front of her.  
Rafe had already been put in charge of staying on board the ship and looking after the injured swordsmen while the ship’s crew volunteered to venture onto the Island with her. Over the week, all the troops and ship’s crew had grown quite fond of Fen, and decided they would do anything to rescue her alongside their High Queen.  
The terrain of the Island looked more barren than Margo had expected. It was mostly flat sand plains, but to the West was a strangely lush looking garden. The lushness of the garden was only strange in the context of the barrens - from the faeries, she would have expected the whole thing to have been full of beautiful (and possibly dangerous) plants. Not knowing anything about faerie plants, Margo had decided to avoid that part as much as they could before they’d even reached the Island.  
Fen was supposedly locked up in a tower somewhere, probably starving, and probably very, very scared and confused. The Island wasn’t very big, and theoretically they would have covered its surface area by the end of the day, especially if they didn’t have to venture into that garden. So Margo, dressed in her best adventuring gear, complete with Fen’s knife strapped to her thigh and a small (very small) army backing her up, ventured onto land for the first time in a week to rescue her Knight.  
What she didn’t anticipate was the jarring feeling of standing on solid, fixed ground after a week at sea. Her body swayed of its own accord, since the ground wasn’t doing it for her, and she fell ass-first into the sand. One of the swordsmen rushed to catch her but ended up falling over too, and out of the corner of her eye she saw more of the men cautiously walking to catch up to her, wondering if the uneasiness of their legs was a magical booby trap or the side effects of a ship based quest.  
The ship’s crew, however, was used to this, and strode confidently forward, the most handsome one reaching a hand out to Margo to help her up. So much for getting in a good start to the journey. She took his hand and stood up, brushing off the sand.  
She started walking straight ahead. Everyone had already been briefed; the goal for today was to cover as much land as possible. The Island had looked a manageable size before they’d landed, but now, walking on the actual earth, it felt so much bigger, and the task felt so much harder. After about ten minutes of walking, Margo was already feeling blanketed by dread and doubt.  
The atmosphere on the Island was really strange, and sometimes Margo felt as though she was walking through a dream. It was also super hot, even though there were plenty of clouds in the sky. Even when one passed over the sun, it still felt as though it was bearing down over them heavily. Lucky Margo’s linen rescuing-a-Knight outfit was super breathable.  
As they covered more and more ground, and the sun hung lower and lower in the sky while still not laying off the heat, Margo grew only more determined. They’d covered most of the barren desert, with no sighting of the tower.  
By the time they returned to their starting point, Margo was about ready to charge into the scary fae garden, but her men warned her not to; with the sun nearly gone, who knew what foreign and terrifying creatures would be lurking in there.  
Of course, this only made Margo more determined, because Fen was in there. It took a lot of convincing from Rafe that she would be safe from the horrors in her tower, and even after she agreed to set up camp, he posted a swordsman outside her tent in case she decided to go running off.  
What Rafe didn’t consider was that all the swordsmen were very tired. In the middle of the night, still dressed and carrying as many weapons as she could (she still had knuckle dusters and pepper spray from earth, of course, and she had found that someone had brought throwing stars, and a bow and arrow) she stealthed away in the direction of the garden. She was just about to enter when she heard footsteps behind her.  
“My Queen-”  
“Rafe, c’mon, you’re not convincing me not to do this.” Margo rolled her eye. The effect was decidedly more creepy than rolling two eyes. Rafe sighed.  
“My Queen, I know this. Just let me come with you.” He brought a hand from behind his back, and Margo saw he was holding a flail. “It is dangerous to go alone. Let me be your lookout.”  
Margo was genuinely touched. She’d always assumed that the people of Fillory secretly hated her, secretly hated all of them, including their own staff. For Rafe to be offering his support…  
She suddenly threw her arms around him, conscious of the fact that he had a flail in his hand, and hugged him. She was so relieved that she wouldn’t be rescuing Fen on her own. Although she’d been intent on going tonight, her crew were all exhausted.They all adored Fen, but they were not driven by the same urge that Margo was. So it was nice to know someone had her back. Rafe shifted awkwardly, and she let him go.  
“Right,” she said. “Let’s go.”

♞

The garden was actually quite beautiful. It conserved some of the heat of the day, just enough to take the chill off, and was full of gorgeous plants that Margo had never seen before. Flowers taller than trees. Butterflies smaller than Margo’s fingernail. Nothing dangerous or toxic or ugly in this paradise.  
No wonder the faeries wanted it back. It was truly Utopia. But Margo’s heart was set on one thing, and plants parted way for her as if they knew this. She could fully appreciate their beauty later, but for now, she had to find Fen.  
A shrill birdsong sounded, and it made Margo feel comforted. And then it made her feel scared, because she knew a faerie trick when she saw (heard) one. The rest of the garden had seemed reasonable, but come to think of it, she’d started following the path the plants carved for her rather than making her own. Which was not only uncharacteristically Margo, but also very worrying within the context. She stopped in her tracks, Rafe nearly crashing into her.  
“This is too suss….” Margo said, looking around. “Do you even know what direction we’ve been heading in?”  
Rafe shook his head. Margo pulled out her compass. The needle spun in every direction.  
“My Queen, faerie magic is strong in their natural habitat. Even if they haven’t been here for decades, centuries even… In that case, it is likely that it has run wilder than ever before,” Rafe explained. He inspected his own compass, and then threw it back into his pocket in annoyance. Margo nodded.  
“From now on, we keep alert and make our own path. The faeries are stakeholders in this Quest, so they would never intentionally sabotage us, but we still need to keep aware of any stray magic.” Margo announced this while staring at all the plants around them. No reaction, but she didn’t know what she expected. For them to bow their heads in shame?  
“What direction now, my Queen?” Rafe asked after a beat.  
Margo shrugged, and searched for the light of the moon through the plants, not sure of how it would help, but still figuring it would be something. Unsuccessful, she ended up pointing in a random direction and started plowing her way through, the plants no longer moving out of her way as she delved in further with Rafe following behind her, wading through leaves and stalks and roots.  
They walked endlessly and in silence. Margo focused her mind on Fen, keeping her thoughts clear and on her goal. As dawn broke, Margo looked around and realised that even if they found Fen right now, it would probably take them half the day to retrace their steps, and suddenly she collapsed in a heap.  
Rafe, noting that it was exhaustion more than distress, quickly followed her to the ground. He sat with his legs crossed as she lay on the cool dirt. Her Knight-saving outfit was surely ruined, but who even cared anymore.  
He pulled bread and butter and sugar from the small bag he was storing his flail in. Margo sighed; that was exactly what she needed. And water. Water, which Rafe also pulled from his bag. The man was a lifesaver.  
She practically inhaled the bread and washed it down with big gulps of water, not caring about any kind of High Queen dignity. Revitalised, she jumped up, ready to keep going. They were on the home stretch; she could feel it. 

The sun was peeking through the leaves, and as it lit up the garden, Margo spotted it in the far distance: the Tower. Thankfully it didn’t look as threatening as the way she’d imagined, which had of course been the tarot card with all the lightening and sharp rocks. In fact, it looked pretty sturdy, and not too high. Rafe stood, and immediately looked in the same direction as Margo, before smiling brighter than he had since Abigail had left. Or rather, been taken hostage by the faeries.  
As the day paraded on, so did they. No obstacles fell in their way— the garden seemed to sense it was about to be saved. The Tower was getting closer and closer, until they were standing in its shade at midday.  
“Fen?” Margo called. “FEN?”  
No response. Rafe stepped forward and circled the Tower, poking his head back around. “There’s a door.”  
Margo all but ran to the door, jerking it open. Nothing would stop her from reaching-  
She stopped in her tracks. A bear of a man stood in her way, and she recognised him instantly. He was twice as tall as her, wielding two swords and snarling.  
“Humbledrum?” She asked.  
He only growled in reply. He seemed somewhat in a trance, eyes glassy and mouth drooling. She supposed he, as part of the whole curse, had been brought here. It made sense, in a way, as he’d been Fen’s last opponent before she proved herself as Margo’s Knight. Now, spit dribbling from his slack mouth and eyes glazed over but staring straight at Margo, he lurched forward, swinging his swords around willy-nilly and nearly knocking Margo over as she stumbled back out of his swords’ reach. She reached for one of her swords and swung it at him, gashing his arm, but he didn’t seem to notice.  
He thrust a sword at her, and she only just managed to block it as she struggled up from the floor, using one hand to lift her sword and the other to cling onto Rafe for support. As Humbledrum cut the swords through the air, Rafe flailed the flail at him, hitting him in the face, but largely having no impact other than drawing blood.  
Humbledrum’s sword cut Margo’s arm as he drew back and as she gasped in pain, he attempted to strike her again, only stopping as-  
As Fen, behind him, hit him on the head with a pan. Margo quickly threw her a sword, after a second of staring at her in awe. She looked tired, and a bit roughed up, but mostly she looked relieved - to see Margo, to be rescued.  
She tapped Humbledrum on the shoulder and he turned to her. A scowl on her face, she whipped the sword towards him - Margo covered her face, not wanting to look, but she could hear her scream “take that!” as she hit him. He fell to the ground, and as Margo lowered her arm from her face, she was met with an armful of Fen, hugging her tighter than she’d imagined possible.  
“Thank you,” she whispered, drawing back to look at Margo. “Thank you.”  
Then, she held Margo’s face in her hands, ever so gently, and kissed her. Finally. Margo kissed her back, tears streaming down both their faces, only pulling away to whisper, “Anything for you, my brave Knight.”

♡

A week later, High Queen Margo and her brave Sir Fen returned to Fillory. A return party waited for them on the docks, consisting of Eliot, Quentin, Alice, some members of the court and a strange faerie that, of course, only Margo and Fen could see.  
Margo could tell Fen was uneasy about her presence, so she held her hand as they were embraced by the party. Eliot had brought champagne, and Fen scrunched her nose adorably as the bubbles hit her skin. As they all headed back up to Whitespire, Margo hung back to see what this faerie wanted with them.  
It turned out she was the faerie Queen, and was returning Margo’s eye, and Abigail.  
“We thank you for your bravery in restoring our land. Since the Lorians took it over, we have been displaced, but now, we are working on revitalising it to become our home once more.  
“In light of this, I would like to return your eye-” Margo suddenly felt a rushing feeling, and she ripped off her eye patch immediately. “-I would also like to return your sloth. She was very helpful.”  
The faerie Queen dumped Abigail into Margo’s arms and disappeared. Fen came up behind her, and nearly shocked Margo into dropping the sloth.  
“What are you doing here? I thought you were going up to the celebration?”  
“I saw the faerie Queen, and suddenly I realised why they needed Abigail.” Fen replied, dropping a hand onto Margo’s shoulder and moving her to walk up to the castle. “The Queen has been dead for a number of years now. Sloths can travel to the underworld. Therefore...”  
Margo nodded in understanding as they reached the open gates. The people of Fillory were all there, having a big party for their return. Rafe saw Margo from across the room, and immediately sprinted to her, darting through people and nearly knocking over an old lady.  
“Oh my God, she’s back.” He said, chest heaving, and he scooped her out of Margo’s arms and dashed off again without so much as a thanks.  
Margo and Fen looked at each other at the same time, same befuddled expression painted on both their faces, and burst into laughter. Fen brought their foreheads together, smile dazzling, and then she pressed her lips again to Margo’s. Eliot and Quentin, and surprisingly Alice, danced around them, holding open bottles of champagne, and Margo couldn’t have been happier than she was in that moment. She rested her forehead against Fen’s again, and she couldn’t have stopped smiling if she’d tried.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading if u got this far!!! pls leave a comment on what u liked it would literally give me life i spent so long on this  
> pls find me on tumblr at notfine-mp3 (sorry idk how to hyperlink) i dont post a lot of magicians but theres a lot of it/stranger things/the goldfinch etc on there  
> thankyou so much xx


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